Editorial Reviews
From the Back Cover
‘Texas Jack Vermilion, this is Turkey Creek Johnson.'
(Hour of the Gun, 1967).
The Western
introduces the novice to the pleasures and the meanings of the
Western film, shares the excitement of the genre with the fan, addresses
the suspicions of the cynic and develops the knowledge of the student.
Pat Garrett: ‘How does it feel?'
Billy the Kid: ‘It feels like times have changed.'
Garrett: ‘Times, maybe. Not me.'
(Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, 1973).
The Western is about the changing times of the Western, and about how it
has been understood in film criticism. Until the 1980s, more Westerns were
made than any other type of film. For fifty of those years, the genre was
central to Hollywood's popularity and profitability. The Western explores
the reasons for its success and its latter-day decline among film-makers
and audiences alike. Part I charts the history of the Western film and its
role in film studies. Part II traces the origins of the Western in
nineteenth-century America, and in its literary, theatrical and visual
imagining. This sets the scene to explore the many evolving forms in
successive chapters on early silent Westerns, the series Western, the epic,
the romance, the dystopian, the elegiac and, finally, the revisionist
Western. The Western concludes with an extensive bibliography, filmography
and select further reading.
Over 200 Westerns are discussed, among them close accounts of classics
such as Duel in the Sun, The Wild Bunch and Unforgiven, formative titles
like John Ford's epic The Iron Horse, and early cowboy star William S.
Hart's The Silent One together with less familiar titles that deserve wider
recognition, including Comanche Station, Pursued and Ulzana's Raid.
About the Author
David Lusted is at the Southhampton Institute
The Western (Inside Film),David Lusted,Longman,0582437369,Cinema/Film: Book,Film & Video - General,History and criticism,Pop Arts / Pop Culture,United States,Western films,Performing Arts / General
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